SPIRIALIS. 117 



can creep about by means of their wing-like appendages, 

 and remain suspended in the water for hours simply by 

 spreading, and suddenly drop to the bottom by folding 

 them." I have failed to detect an operculum, although 

 Dr. Carpenter kindly assisted me in the examination, 

 and many specimens were sacrificed at the altar of 

 science. 



S. retroversus ought not to have been mistaken by 

 the discoverer for a miniature Fusus, which has a chan- 

 nelled mouth. I must likewise protest against the 

 practice of changing specific names on the pretext that 

 they are inappropriate— and especially in the present 

 case, where Flemingii has been substituted for retrcrversus. 

 Although all the species of Spirialis are sinistrorsal, 

 this is the original type, and rightly characterized by 

 the name. Balia pervei^sa is in the same category ; and 

 the specific name of Cypraea Europcsa is not less correct 

 because there are other European species of the same 

 genus. Names, after all, are mere symbols of distinc- 

 tion ; and it is quite immaterial whether they are ap- 

 propriate or not. 



Two specimens of a microscopic shell, somewhat re- 

 sembling ;S^. bulimoides of Souleyet, were found by Dr. 

 Alcock in Roundstone Bay, Connemara. The spire is 

 more slender, and the whorls fewer than in S. retrover- 

 sus. I will not venture to propose a new species for 

 objects so minute, as they may possibly turn out to be 

 the fry of some Nudibranch. 



A specimen of Cavolina trispinosa, Lesueur, was 

 washed ashore at Youghal, with Spirula australis, a 

 tropical Cephalopod ; they must have been carried by 

 the Gulf-stream to the Bay of Biscay, and afterwards 

 brought by the prevalent south-westerly winds and 

 tidal currents to their destination. 



